Back in 2010, our previous Presiding Bishop of the ELCA wrote the following article below. It reads as if it was written yesterday. All you have to change is the word “election campaign” to “primary season”. Unfortunately, we are still in the same mode of “gotcha politics” today.  I am posting this as a reminder to all of us that God is sovereign (in charge) and we sometimes forget that. The words written below remind all of us of God’s love and provision.

Please note when reading the article below, no one party or person is singled out. This is kind of like Cinderella, if the glass slipper fits…

God bless us all,
Pr. Ben

Government is God’s Servant
By The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
The just-completed election campaign should wake us all and stir us to action. Our nation’s political climate has been overrun with bitter and divisive commentary. Reckless incivility has overtaken public discourse in our nation, and it is a travesty. Our children have watched and learned from us. Spiteful rhetoric used to stigmatize opponents on subjects such as immigration and gay rights has become a script for young people and children to bully and intimidate their peers.

Enough. We deserve better. I’m adding my voice to those who call for respectful political engagement for the common good. I join all who call for a renewal of common decency in public speech. I am not alone. Many Christians choose to engage public life with a hopeful spirit, very differently from the mean-spirited cynicism that has overtaken us. I join those who act out of hope, because I am confident that God is at work in the world for the good of everyone.

Behind much of the divisive rhetoric and the partisan behavior in our nation are perspectives that are not worthy of us as a nation. Some treat government as if it were God-forsaken unless one religious tradition and its set of moral values are imposed on people of all faiths. Some view people whose language, culture or convictions are “different” as threats or even enemies to be overcome and controlled. Some present themselves as victims and engage the political process resentfully for their own self-interests and the interests of those who are most like them.

Much of the division and hostility we experience in political life flows from these kinds of perspectives. Christians whose hope and confidence come from the biblical witness have a different perspective.

We recognize that government is God’s servant, as the apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament. Regardless of the faith of the people holding public office, government itself and all public employees serve God’s providential care for all humankind. Even when we are convinced that government is dysfunctional and needs reform, public service remains an honorable vocation and it deserves the respect of all. Political life should not be abandoned as hopelessly God-forsaken. We have the opportunity and the responsibility in a democracy to engage public life with generosity and compassion. Candidates elected to public office have a responsibility to serve the common good, not privileged interests or partisan factions.

When we participate in the political process, we engage others as neighbors whom we have the opportunity and privilege to serve. Christian faith follows Jesus, who came to serve, not to be served. Authentic Christian faith serves all who are our neighbors, both in this nation and around the world. Even when we disagree on important matters of public life, we respect our neighbors. We need not caricature their words and ideas simply to defeat them. Instead, we engage in vigorous public debate in order to preserve and strengthen the life we share with all. For that reason, even when we disagree, we seek to find others at their best.

Finally, Christians do not view life as a competition, where progress can come only at the expense of others. We engage the political life of our nation, presenting ourselves as people confident in a generous God who mercifully provides enough for the well-being of all people. We present our best gifts, ready to endure hardship and suffering for the sake of the common good. Because God has not entrusted abundant resources and gifts to us for partisan advantage, we use them for the good of all, for God is the God of all.